Yesterday, eCurrency announced that it has signed a long-term partnership with the Bank of Jamaica for the nationwide launch of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) known as JAM-DEX.

eCurrency originally partnered with the central bank for its five-month retail CBDC pilot program, which began in August last year. Technically, JAM-DEX went into production on April 1 of this year and the country is working on a national rollout targeting all banks and payment service providers to adopt it by the end of 2023. In June, legislation passing makes CBDC legal tender.

Commenting on the e-currency deal, Bank of Jamaica Deputy Governor Natalie Hayne said: “JAM-DEX will be a game changer in the country’s digital transformation, by enabling unbanked and underbanked citizens to be part of the system. formal financial system, which allows access to other financial products.”

Even though 100,000 people received a gift of digital currency on April 1, they can’t do much with the money.

The local news outlet Jamaica Observer noted that the launch is slow due to a lack of adoption by merchants. The key delay relates to larger retailers needing to upgrade their point-of-sale (POS) equipment to support CBDC. The ATMs also need to be adapted.

Banks are responsible for onboarding merchants and have also been slow to accept them. So far, the only bank in full operation is the National Commercial Bank (NCB), which has launched a wallet for its customers. The National Bank of Jamaica has been testing a wallet and it will likely launch this year.